While legislators at the Oklahoma Capitol deal with low reading scores and holding back third graders who can’t properly read, 17-year-old Katelynne Tevis has just published her first book.
Katelynne, the daughter of Jena and Jay Tevis, grew up in Newcastle and is a junior at Newcastle High School.
Her book, “Forgot the Doors,” is a young adult drama with a premise similar to Katelynne’s favorite book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” a coming-of-age novel by Stephen Chbosky, and also S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders,” also a coming of age novel.
Katelynne, whose pen name is K.F. Tevis, said, “Publishing a book has always been something I’ve wanted to do. I remember trying to write one sometime in elementary. I literally bragged to all my family.”
She said the idea for this book didn’t come up until later when she was looking through her Google Docs. In her notes, she had been thinking about her feelings, and not knowing how one feels. She said she had been going through a particularly rough period in her life.
“I kinda wrote the whole plot with that in mind, then left it alone. Later, I came back to it and started writing,” Katelynne said.
Eleven months later, and the book was written.
The target audience for “Forgot the Doors” is other teens who may relate, she said.
“I specifically wrote something that I would like to read,” Katelynne said. “I was hoping that when someone reads it, they’d feel the same way I did when reading ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower.’” Katelynne said she was very excited about publishing the book; however, she was also very nervous and hadn’t eaten much lately.
“Honestly, I’m kinda scared to publish because my book is kind of a window into my soul: that’s really scary because people could see how I’m feeling and see ‘me.’ I’m also pretty scared that people will judge me or even dislike my book.”
Katelynne said she thinks her mom, Jena, is more excited about the publication than Katelynne is.
“I think she wants a copy for every room of the house,” Katelynne said.
The author said her parents helped with getting her book published. She said they suggested she go to Litfest, a free writer’s conference through the Metropolitan Library System. It was there that she found her publisher. Katelynne said her parents were also “a huge help when it comes to advertising, especially with people we know.”
She said, “They’ve been very supportive on the publishing front, and I can honestly say that without them, I don’t think that publishing would have been possible.”
As a student at NHS, Katelynne takes an active role in the Entrepreneur Class and the Creative Writing Club. She said the Entrepreneur Class has helped her in publishing her book and comes in after the writing and editing. She said the book requires things like a good cover and marketing.
“I need to understand the principles of graphic design to also create materials like posters and bookmarks to aid in advertising to gain exposure,” Katelynne said. “I also needed to have a pitch and understand concepts like target audience to actually find people who want to buy. Overall the marketing skills that are taught in Entrepreneurship are essential in actually selling my book.”
Entrepreneurship Class teacher Staci Franklin said, “Katelynne is an exceptional student with a strong work ethic and a bright future ahead. I think her accomplishment is a great example of young people doing impressive and meaningful work.”
As for the writing and the editing of the book, that’s where the Creative Writing Club was helpful.
The Creative Writing Club meets weekly to write and share work. They provide feedback and offer support to each other, according to Creative Writing Club sponsor Andrea Thomas.
“Katelynne is a very active member of our club and an outstanding writer,” Thomas, an NHS English teacher, said. “I am so proud of her accomplishment, and I can guarantee we will be seeing more books from her in the future. I have her book on Kindle already, and will be ordering a paperback for her to sign.”
Katelynne said she will likely be writing more books in the future, and is currently working on another one. She doesn’t think writing will be her full-time job. In fact, her plans for after graduation are to enlist in the U.S. Air Force, although she is still working out the details.
“At the moment, joining the military as a reserve and earning my bachelor’s degree then applying to Officer Training School sounds most appealing,” she said. “I’m hoping to gain a role in intelligence in the military; I think this would best use my skills and allow me to make a difference, and protect the people I care about.
“I think it also offers an interesting experience that can add more flavor to my life and to my writing.”
“Forgot the Doors” is being published by Quill Hawk Publishing, based in Oklahoma, and is available on Amazon. Katelynne said as of a week ago Monday, it was only available in eBook format but the physical copies in paperback at $9.99 and hardback for $19.99 were to be available by Thursday, April 23. “Forgot the Doors” is available for free on Kindle Unlimited and for $3.99 for the eBook on Kindle. She said she hopes copies will be available at places like Barnes & Noble and other mass mass-market retailers.
A QR code is being printed along with this story for purchase of the eBook version.
Katelynne said she also has planned for the book’s release to coincide with May as it is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the book deals with themes of mental health and connection.
This QR code will take you to Amazon.com to aid in the purchase of “Forgot the Doors.”
